


land & sea, land & home

by fiveminutemajor



Category: Men's Hockey RPF
Genre: Alternate Universe - Farm/Ranch, M/M, Sailor AU, Slow Burn, baby sheep as a metaphor for love, copious amounts of burakinnon, gabe is captain of a fishing vessel, less emotional than you think it's going to be, mikko is dumb himbo cupid, set in New Zealand, tyson is a sheep farmer
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-02-29
Updated: 2020-02-29
Packaged: 2021-02-28 00:33:53
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,203
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22961011
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/fiveminutemajor/pseuds/fiveminutemajor
Summary: title is from "land & sea" by ziggy alberts, as are all of the chapter titlesworking title: the inherent romanticism of one thousand sheepin which tyson left the sea behind, but gabe's ocean eyes draw him in againalternatively,tyson knows sheep better than he knows men
Relationships: Andre Burakovsky/Nathan MacKinnon, J. T. Compher/Tyson Jost, Minor or Background Relationship(s), Tyson Barrie/Gabriel Landeskog
Comments: 2
Kudos: 37





	land & sea, land & home

**Author's Note:**

> hello! if you or anyone you know are mentioned in this fic, please click away now! this is a work of fiction!
> 
> this fic is multi-chaptered!
> 
> enjoy!

Tyson thinks maybe he should thank Mikko. In all reality he should have been yelling at Mikko, but no one can bring themselves to be mad at the puppy-like guy. It’s not his fault he can’t tell the difference between a shipping schedule and a grocery list. If Mikko had actually done his job for once, Tyson would not have the best thing in his life.

-

Every Sunday morning goes like this. Tyson’s alarm rings out, too shrill for three thirty am, but it’s the only way to rouse him from sleep. He stretches his arm out to turn it off and every time without fail, hits a worn spot on the old wooden headboard. Rubbing the sleep from his eyes, he sits up to greet the morning. Tyson has to shove his feet into the ratty slippers his grandpa had sent a few years back because the heating in his house doesn’t work too well. 

Benji, Bonnie, Tip, and Ralph are already waiting for their breakfast by the time Tyson shuffles into the kitchen. He’s always hastily dressed in whatever happens to be clean, but he’s not worried about impressing the dogs or the sheep. The coffee pot is rumbling pleasantly when he pours the three dogs their meals. 

Tyson swears he spends half his money on the dogs alone. He doesn’t mind the small fortune he spends on kibble though. These dogs are his livelihood. Without Benji and Bonnie to herd the sheep or Tip to keep an eye on them at night, Tyson wouldn’t have a flock. Ralph really doesn't do much but be a good companion, but he's a champion cuddler. Tyson gives Tip the normal quarter of a sheep bone and sends him off to bed. Tyson sips his coffee while the other three dogs sit and stare at him, eager to begin the day’s work.

Unlike most Sundays, on the seventh of January, Tyson goes into town. He rarely ever makes the drive into Christchurch, but the shipment he’s receiving is reason enough. Five of his favorite ewes are waiting in the heated barn Tyson had built last summer. They all have names, of course. Tyson only names his favorite sheep, seeing as giving every sheep in a flock of over a thousand would be difficult. The ewes in the barn are Fiona, Dahlia, Pearl, Margie, and Jewel. They’ve been proven mothers over the last couple breeding seasons and they all like each other. It’ll make Tyson’s job a little easier. 

When Tyson parks his car in one of the airport parking lots, there’s three texts and five missed calls from Mikko. Sighing, he presses the call button and wonders what’s gone wrong enough to cause Mikko to find his perpetually lost phone. 

“Uh- hi.” Mikko answers on the first ring. He sounds surprised, like he wasn't expecting Tyson to call back.

"What happened now, Rants? Please tell me nothing's wrong with my embryos." 

"Nothing's wrong with them, I swear, you're just gonna have to go somewhere else to pick them up." Mikko's tone was not unlike one you'd use to calm a wild animal.

"And why's that? Because the embryos were scheduled for today and you know if they're in storage too long they won't take." 

"I know, I know. There was an issue with the shipping company and they didn't have enough goods to send by plane to Christchurch from Auckland." Mikko explained.

"And what does that mean for the embryos? Do I have to get a last minute flight to Auckland to pick them up?"

"No, no, no. It's all been taken care of. They were put on a cargo ship headed to Christchurch sometime yesterday."

"Oh thank god, I am not prepared to try and get sheep embryos through airport security. I'll just head down to the cargo center." Tyson holds his phone between his cheek and his shoulder and begins to back out of his parking spot.

"You've got a couple hours until the ship is scheduled to arrive and an extra hour for offloading." Tyson could feel Mikko's apprehension, like he was expecting Tyson to go off on him and blame him for the mishap. Tyson would never, and he couldn't understand anyone that would. Mikko was like a puppy, adorable and sweet, if a little stupid. 

"That's fine, I need to eat some lunch anyway. Thanks Mikko, you're the best." Everyone could use a little positive reinforcement.

"Yeah, okay Brutes. Whatever you say. Good luck with the embryos, I hope they'll take." Mikko sounds sincere and it's nice. 

"Thanks bud. I appreciate it. Bye." Tyson doesn't wait for Mikko's response before he hangs up.

-

Christchurch isn't a bad city. All things considered, it's very good. But Tyson isn't in his people clothes because he wasn't expecting to be around people today. He's sitting in a cafe with a mediocre sandwich and a caramel latte trying to pass the time. The views from the cafe are objectively gorgeous, a wide expanse of blue dotted with seabirds. Coastal cities are nice, but Tyson prefers the rolling green hills of his farm.

He's getting up to bring his dishes to the counter and pay when quite possibly the most attractive guy he's ever seen walks in. This guy looks like a scandinavian god, all blonde hair and blue eyes and chiseled features. His hair looks simultaneously like the guy spent two hours perfecting it and like he woke up like that. It's unfair, really. 

The guy shoots Tyson a small smile as he walks past and it sets Tyson's heart racing. He starts to order and Tyson goes to pay for his own meal. In a spur of the moment idea, he motions for the barista behind the counter.

"This is for him." Tyson says, sliding a crisp twenty dollar bill over the counter and nodding to the too handsome guy. "Use it to cover what he gets and the rest is a tip." The barista nods and smiles and pockets the twenty. She goes to her co-worker and whispers something to him, who in turn tells the guy something, and all three of them look at Tyson. He manages to give a little wave before he turns and leaves the cafe. He hopes his face isn't as red as it feels.

The walk to the cargo yard is nice, particularly because it's a bit chilly out and the wind cools Tyson's cheeks. He thinks he should bring Ralph next time he's in town. The little dog would love to run along the shore and snap at the seabirds.

Tyson knows a couple of guys at the yard, friends of friends or people he deals with on the regular. He stops by the main office to see if any of them are in today. 

"Big Tys!" He hears a chipper voice as soon as he opens the door. "What're you doing in town today? Great to see you, man!" The owner of the voice, Tyson Jost, aka Lil Tys, jogs up to him, curls bouncing.

"Hey Josty! I had to come see the second best Tyson!" Josty punches him gently in his upper arm and Tyson grins.

"JT and Alexander are around here somewhere and I think Sam's taking his break outside. They'll all be so jealous when they hear that I got to see you and they didn't!" Josty's wide smile is infectious and Tyson can feel genuine happiness bubbling up in his chest.

"I'm really here because I've got some embryos coming in and I've gotta get them home before it's too late." Tyson rubs Josty's hair affectionately and the he makes a hurt noise. 

"D'you know what shipment? They might be in already." Tyson stops and sighs. 

"Damn, no."

"Why not?" Josty asks.

"Mikko's been handling the shipment." Tyson says and that's all the explanation necessary.

"Oh, I feel you. You can hang out here until we get an urgent package for one Tyson Barrie. I'll text you if you wander off." Josty tosses him another easy smile and saunters out of the main room. Tyson gets roughly thirty seconds of peace and quiet before he hears shouting and a tidal wave of his friends spills out of a hallway. 

“T-Bear!”

“Tys!”

“Brutes!”

“Hi guys.” Tyson chuckles as the group approaches him. 

Josty didn’t mention that EJ would be here, but the blonde towers over the rest of them. EJ grins at Tyson and shows off his trademark missing teeth. 

“You’ve been away too long, Tys. We miss you.” JT says and Tyson sighs.

“You guys could come visit me, you know. The sheep don’t bite. Well, most of them anyway. If you get too close to Winnie she’s not afraid to, you know.” Tyson bites at the air in a poor mimicry of the terrifying sight Winnie makes when she’s angry. 

“Yeah, no thanks. Sheep scare me.” Sam says, and Tyson nearly bursts out laughing. 

“Sheep scare you? Sam, we live in New Zealand! There are literally sheep everywhere!”

“Not in the city! That’s why I live here. Not in the country, like you.” Sam crosses his arms.

“Why don’t you move to Auckland then? Less scary sheep up there for you to worry about.”

“Gas is too expensive in Auckland and it’s too busy. Here is just right.” Sam explains, leaning back into EJ.

“What about you? Got room in your busy schedule to come visit your favorite Tyson?” Tyson asks JT.

“Don’t you dare! I better be your favorite Tyson!” Josty calls from wherever he’s disappeared to.

"Always, babe!" JT yells back, and Tyson thinks maybe that's something he should ask about, but not right now.

"Tys, that's your ship coming in! D'you wanna go watch it?" Josty yells again.

"Sure, why not." It's been years since Tyson worked on a boat of any kind, and he can't say he misses it, but these massive vessels still inspire a sense of awe in him.

It's warmed up a bit since Tyson went into the office and now the sun has cut through the perpetual Christchurch fog. Josty and EJ join him on the walk to the main bays and it's good. Not quite like old times but it's nice.

"You know, ever since you went out in the back country, Nate's missed you like crazy." EJ says, and a little bolt of longing shoots through Tyson's heart.

"Yeah, it's like, every time he comes ashore he's looking for you. He looks like a kicked puppy when he leaves again." Josty chimes in. Tyson frowns.

"I miss him too, but the sea is not where I belong. It's Nate's home." Tyson sighs and his shoulders slump. "When's he scheduled to be back?" He asks, and Josty's eyes fill with glee.

"Nate and the rest of his crew got back early this morning." EK spits out before Josty can say anything. "You should hear him talk about his new captain. If Nate didn't have a boyfriend he'd be all up and down on him." 

"Wait a minute, Nate has a boyfriend? And he didn't tell me?" Tyson interrupts, flabbergasted. Josty winces.

"You didn't know? Damn, I thought he would have told you. He's gonna kill us when he tells you himself and finds out you already know." Josty bites his lower lip. "He seriously didn't tell you?" Tyson shrugs and shakes his head.

"That's cold. You'll like his boyfriend though. He's great." EJ says. Tyson feels like he's watching something happen through a TV and it hits him. This isn't his life anymore. He's a visitor now. The eight years he spent on the docks and on the sea don't matter anymore. He's just watching it happen from the outside. 

"Look! There's your ship!" Josty says, pointing to a huge cargo ship pulling into port. It snaps Tyson out of his downward spiral. 

Tyson shields his eyes from the sun and looks out on the water. The ship Josty's pointing at is massive, stacked high with multi-colored cargo containers. He wills it to offload quickly so he can go home.

"Tyson?" He hears a faint, disbelieving voice ask. He turns around and barely has time to register his best friend before he's caught in a crushing hug.

"Nate, Nate, I can't breathe." Tyson says, but it's entirely fond and he squeezes back just as hard.

"What are you doing here? God, I missed you so much." Nate says once he releases Tyson.

"One, I missed you too, bud. Two, I gotta pick up a package. Three, when were you planning on telling me you have a boyfriend?" Tyson asks, crossing his arms in faux anger, and Nate's face pales.

"Tys, I swear I was gonna tell you, I was! But I just got caught up in stuff, and-"

"Relax, Dogg. It's great that you found someone." Tyson put a hand on Nate's shoulder. "You gonna introduce us? I gotta make sure he's good enough for you." Nate responds with a rare, easy smile, and it's good. Tyson needs to come back more often. He needs more of this.

"So do you have anyone special?" Nate asks, elbowing Tyson in the soft spot between his ribs and his waist.

"I wish, right now it's just me and my sheep." Tyson laughs somewhat bitterly. He loves his sheep, he really does, but there's a piece missing. "Why don't you introduce me to this captain of yours that I've heard so much about?" Nate flushes and rubs the back of his neck.

"He's uh, right over there. If you wanna. Go say hi. He's heard a lot about you." Nate says.

"Aww Nate! You talk about me? That's so sweet! I talk about you to my sheep but they don't really understand the difference between a brick wall and an open door so I guess it doesn't mean much." Nate chuckles and pulls him in the direction of where a few guys are standing and talking.

"Gabe!" Nate calls. A blonde man turns away from the group and smiles blindingly at Nate and Tyson. The latter of the two is hit with a sudden recognition. It's the same too handsome guy from the cafe earlier that day. Oh dear. 

"Nate!" He walks over and Tyson is screwed. He's overwhelming up close. "This must be the illustrious Tyson. I'm Gabe." He holds his hand out to shake. Tyson wipes his clammy palm on his overalls and shakes Gabe's hand.

"I'm, ah, sure you've only heard the good stuff. About me, I mean." Gabe smiles brighter and Tyson chokes out a nervous laugh.

"Only the good stuff." Gabe winks and Tyson just about dies right there. Nate wasn't kidding when he called him a 'bi disaster'. "I gotta repay you for this morning! How about I take you out to dinner?" Gabe asks, and Tyson's brain short circuits.

"Um, I'd love to, but I really have to get home as soon as possible. See, this package that I'm waiting for is these really expensive embryos, and I've got to get them, you know, in the ewes quickly, or it's a massive waste of money. I really would love to, but-" Tyson cuts himself off, realizing he's rambling.

"That's alright," Gabe says, smiling gently, "I'll just have to get your number so we can plan another time."

"Yeah, yeah, um, okay." Tyson pulls out his phone, opens a new contact and hands it to Gabe. Gabe quickly types in his number and hands the phone back. The contact name says "Gabe" but Tyson changes it to "gabe the babe ;)". He sends a quick "hey" text so Gabe has his number too and pockets his phone. Gabe's phone pings in his pocket and he grins, but doesn't look at it.

"Hey, um, I don't want to interrupt your moment or whatever, but what did you say you were going to do?" Another guy asks. He looks barely twenty, with childlike features yet an air of maturity around him.

"Um, I'm gonna take the embryos and put them in the surrogate ewes that are waiting back at home?" Tyson says. Usually people aren't interested in what he does on the farm, but the kid seems genuinely intrigued. 

"Wait, woah. That's so cool! Is it hard to do?"

"I mean, yes and no. It's tricky to get right though. If you wanna see it, I could always use an extra set of hands." Tyson offers and his eyes go wide.

"Cap, I gotta go! You know how much I love stuff like this." He looks at Gabe pleadingly. "Oh! You should come too! And Burky!" He turns to Tyson and Nate stiffens beside him. "Have you met Burky? No, I suppose you wouldn't have."

"Tyson, would you be okay with a few of us coming over? I can't promise we won't disturb anything, but we won't get in your way." Gabe asks politely.

"Oh, that's fine! Like I said, I could always use some help. As long as everyone's fine with sheep and maybe cuddling said sheep, I don't have a problem with it." Tyson shrugs.

"Sweet!" The young one says. "I'm not much of a physical person, but Burky will cuddle the hell out of any living creature that stays still long enough." Tyson giggles.

"Me too, to be honest. I've also got four dogs, so if that's more your speed-"

"Four? Tys, when did you get another dog?" Nate interrupts.

"Um," Tysons says, "yeah, Alexander's dog had puppies, so. You know I can't resist a free puppy." Nate sighs and rolls his eyes, clearly fond.

"Tys! They're done offloading! Come get your sheep eggs!" Josty yells from the dock.

"Yeah, I'm coming!" Tyson yells back. "I'll text you my address, just, uh, give me a ten minute heads up so I can make sure I'm not elbow deep in a sheep." Gabe pales just slightly but nods in confirmation. "See you all in a bit." Tyson jogs over to the office where Josty and EJ are waiting with the big metal cylinder of sheep embryos. 

"Way to ditch us for Captain Handsome over there." EJ chirps, but there's nothing serious to his tone.

"I was mad for a second but then I saw you exchanging numbers, like, damn get it Tys!" Josty grins crookedly.

"Shut up! I want my 'sheep eggs' so I can get home! They're coming over tonight." Tyson moves to grab the cylinder from next to Josty, but the smaller Tyson steps in front of it.

"Uh uh uh. Not so fast! What're the details? Who's coming over? Why? How long are they staying?" 

"Goddamnit, you're so nosy. Gabe, a younger kid, and someone named Burky. Maybe Nate, he didn't say anything about coming though. They're coming to help with the ewes. I'm not sure." Tyson counts with his fingers as he lists off the answers to Josty's questions.

"Oh, Burky's coming is he?" EJ asks, looking at his nails like the gossip queen he is.

"Um, yeah? Who is he, exactly?"

"You might wanna ask Nate that." Josty says very seriously and then laughs. "No but for real, that's Nate's new boyfriend." Tyson's eyes go wide.

"Oh. Oh. That's- okay. Cool." Tyson says. "So, I'm hosting a guy who is so attractive that it distracts me from everything, my best friend's new boyfriend, maybe my best friend, and some random kid who seems way more into sheep than normal sane people. Cool." Josty and EJ burst out laughing and Tyson takes the opportunity to steal the embryo cylinder.

"That random kid is probably Cale. He's literally a prodigy. Some would say he's your replacement on the boat-" Josty pauses when EJ glares at him, "not me, I wouldn't say that. Some people, not me."

Tyson just laughs and hefts the cylinder onto a nearby cart. He waves a goodbye and promises to see them soon before heading to his car. 

-

Ralph alerts Tyson to the car in the driveway before he hears it pull in. Benji and Bonnie know better than to bark without permission, but Ralph wasn't quite as well behaved as them. Tip was still asleep in the house but wouldn't be for much longer. Tyson finishes the prep work and leaves the barn to greet his guests. Gabe's already out of the car when Tyson gets to the driveway, hair ruffling slightly in the breeze. Tyson very pointedly does not have a minor crisis about it. Nate's in the passenger seat and Cale and who Tyson assumes to be Burky are in the back.

Tyson opens the gate from the paddock and the three awake dogs go flying out. Ralph bounds up to Gabe and jumps up on his legs, demanding attention. Nate whistles for Benji and Bonnie and they careen around the car to get to him. Tyson can hear Tip barking in the house, mad that he's not out experiencing the excitement. Gabe picks Ralph up easily and holds him like a baby.

"That's Ralph. He's a sweetheart as long as you're touching him. A real attention whore." Tyson says when he gets to the car. Burky and Cale get out of the car and immediately Burky chimes in.

"Oh me too. Me and Ralph get each other." Nate shakes his head but there's a small blush on his cheeks. Interesting.

"Over there that's Benji and Bonnie. Tip's in the house." Tyson points to the dogs laying on their back and soaking up belly rubs from Nate. "I don't think we've actually formally met. I'm Tyson Barrie, this is my farm, there are roughly a thousand sheep here." Burky blinks a couple times at the number of sheep and smiles. Tyson gets why Nate likes him. No one says anything for a bit until Tyson says, "now is the time when you introduce yourselves" and gestures to Cale and Burky.

"Oh, um, I'm Cale, Cale Makar." He says it like it's a question. "I uh, I'm part of the crew of the Avalanche. Hauling nets and stuff." He seems to remember that he basically took over Tyson's position. "You know the deal." Tyson smiles gently.

"I'm Andre Burakovsky, but my friends call me Burky. Also a crew member." He stops there and Tyson wonders when Nate's gonna spill the beans that have already been spilled.

"Nate, do you have anything to tell me before we get started?" Tyson prods.

"Huh?" Nate looks up from the dogs.

"Nothing you wanna say to your best friend in the whole world?"

"No?"

"Hmm, okay. Well then, if you all would like to follow me down to the barn, that would be great. I'm just gonna let Tip out quickly." Tyson jogs up to the front of the house and unlocks the door. Tip bolts out and immediately jumps onto Gabe, who thankfully had set Ralph down, because Tip very nearly knocks him over.

"Alright, let's go then. I hope you're not wearing your good shoes."

In the barn, everyone is suddenly more apprehensive than they seemed at first. Something about the tools or the ewes makes Nate nervous and he sort of settles in the back of the barn. Cale still looks interested, but he seems a bit daunted. Burky, however, is overjoyed by the sheep and is practically vibrating with excitement. Gabe sidles up to Tyson and clasps his hand, awaiting his orders.

"Okay. So. Here's what's gonna happen."

-

Objectively, it goes well. The embryos are all fine and they get in the ewes and Burky gets to cuddle some sheep. They don't get out completely unscathed, however. Cale is probably scarred mentally from when Tyson asked if he wanted to feel a sheep's uterus and he reluctantly did. Burky gets bored and starts messing around with tools and accidentally clamps his fingers to a table. Nothing more than a bruise, but it does cause a bit of panic from Nate. 

Gabe stays next to Tyson the whole time. He asks questions and laughs at Tyson's dumb sheep jokes and it's the first time Tyson feels like someone actually cares about the things he does. When one of the ewes (Pearl) freaks out more than the rest, Gabe holds her head and whispers in her ears. Tyson had tried that a few times but it never seemed to work. Apparently Gabe has sheep magic because it works and Pearl quiets down. Tyson smiles gratefully at him and Gabe bites his lip.

They trudge up to the house with the dogs, feeling accomplished and tired. Gabe walks next to Tyson and neither of them say anything but there's an air between them. Something unspoken and fragile and new. But it's there. Tyson doesn't know where it came from exactly. He doesn't know when Gabe went from just a hot guy to a hot guy that's brushing the back of Tyson's hand with his fingertips on the way up to the house from the barn.

-

Tyson’s too realistic to think it’s anything but some mild infatuation, but he’s always been a lover. He’s always put his heart in someone’s hands and let them do what they wanted with it. He can only hope that Gabe won’t toss it in the sea.

**Author's Note:**

> this fic was borne from my trip to new zealand and the sole amount of sheep that i saw. something about the domesticity of the small farms made me want to write this, and i wrote 80% of this chapter on the plane back to the us. 
> 
> endless thanks to kate always.
> 
> thank you for reading! comments and kudos provide me with much needed motivation to write the next chapters, so if you want more, let me know!
> 
> anyways,  
> yeehaw lads


End file.
